Food Label Regulations – Nutrition Declaration

The mandatory food label regulations requiring a ‘nutrition declaration’ does not enter into force until 13 December 2016. However, when given on a voluntary basis before this date, it should comply with the requirements of the food label regulations.

The nutrition declaration must be made per 100g or 100ml of product and include:

• The energy value in kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal)
• Amount of fats
• Amount of saturates
• Amount of carbohydrates
• Amount of sugars
• Amount of protein
• Amount of salt

Everything apart from energy should be declared in grams. It is approprate to declare nutrtion rounded to the nearest gram but salt may be declared more accurately to the nearest 0.1 grams. Where appropriate, a statement indicating that the salt content is exclusively due to the presence of naturally occurring sodium may appear in close proximity to the nutrition declaration.

The order in which the nutrition data is declared is specific. You must declare the nutrients in the order set out above.

Optionally, you may also declare:

Under fats:
• Mono-unsaturated Fat
• Poly-unsaturated Fat

Under Carbohydrates:

• Polyols
• Starch

After Protein but above Salt

• Fibre

Food labelling regulations state that nutrition data must be declared per 100g or 100ml (whichever is the appropriate measurement for the food). It is optional to provide a serving, consumable unit (e.g. a biscuit) or a pack value for nutrition data.

A statement indicating the reference intake must be placed within the same ‘field of vision’ of the nutrition data. The statement may only read “Reference intake of an average adult (8 400 kJ/2000 kcal)” You may also make a declaration on the front of pack for which there are a range of other regulations.

There are exemptions from the food label regulations which are focused on additives such as colourings, flavourings or flavour enhancers.

There are a plethora of specifics and you can find out more on this blog post or you can visit our sister website Nutridata, where the rules are explained in some detail.

Positive ID Labelling have built some software specifically to help producers deliver their obligations for nutrition data on labels. Nutridata is a standalone software solution that runs on Windows based PC’s (Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 are supported). The software allows you to build recipes for your products and export your product data as an excel file with all the necessary information for you to create your labels.

To find out more, visit the Nutridata Website, call us direct on 01332 864895 or fill in the form below and we will contact you to discuss your needs: